v Brentford (A) - Matchday Thread

[Ken Tram]

17 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

Games and perceptions turn on such little things...Brentford missed a couple of sitters and I couldn't see us scoring, so if they had converted one it would have felt like a pretty disappointing performance. 

I agree that games can turn on small things ... but (having not watched the game) the sense that I'm getting tonight is that the performance was an improvement ... to the extent that they would still have seen the match as a positive step forward even if one of the "open goals" had been covered against us.

Or, do you think fans are only seeing positives because we didn't lose?

(Either way, it's nice to celebrate a decent away point, however much it was deserved or not!)

[Ellafella]

35 minutes ago, RamNut said:

Struggled to keep my eyes open after an all nighter, but - from what I see - we started to look like a unit. A team playing for each other. 
a nil all without being boring, 

jozwiaks ability to hold the ball is becoming more and more important. 

Nail & Head. It wasn’t boring. It was absorbing. Find a bit of unpredictable flair in January and we could fly along the back straight. 

[Marriot Ram99]

Think we are only 3 players off being a decent side, 1 striker who can score alot even though Kazim has been decent, a creative player hopefully Ibe and a real solid centre back with pace to hold the defensive line together. 

[RoyMac5]

10 minutes ago, Ken Tram said:

Or, do you think fans are only seeing positives because we didn't lose?

We played well. We held them and had them worried about us too. From where we were to now is quite a big step forward. Can't expect too much more. If you didn't know the teams' positions at the match start you wouldn't have guessed positions during the game. #COYR

[Ken Tram]

23 minutes ago, Barney1991 said:

Well done to Rooney. ...

... [I'll] back him and don't want to be negative ...

... but we will not get promoted with him as manager ...

... but he's a rookie and will make mistakes ...

Lampard was also a rookie, and promotion was not an impossibility!

However, I agree with you that different managers might best suit different goals, such as: survival; promotion; and Premier League sustainability.

But, perhaps Mac in the Director role will provide the continuity that we need, when and if we need different styles of managers.

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

4 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

Nail & Head. It wasn’t boring. It was absorbing. Find a bit of unpredictable flair in January and we could fly along the back straight. 

See how we go. Really could do with 3 points soon . A lot of endeavour of the last three but lose this weekendand we could be back to square one. That's where the confidence could deplete.

Did see this quote from a Preston fan earlier about Claude Davis 'Genuinely the classiest CB on the ball that I've seen for us in my 20 years of watching. Saw him put many a forward on their backside.' 

Compared to those poor feckers watching this team must be like watching brazil in 1970. It could be worse clearly.

[Nuwtfly]

10 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

We played well. We held them and had them worried about us too. From where we were to now is quite a big step forward. Can't expect too much more. If you didn't know the teams' positions at the match start you wouldn't have guessed positions during the game. #COYR

I'd so love to agree with you, but I just get this nagging feeling that if Cocu had been in charge, and we had put in that exact same performance, your opinion, and the opinions of quite a few others on here, would be very, very different.

 

[Ken Tram]

2 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

See how we go. Really could do with 3 points soon . A lot of endeavour of the last three but lose this weekendand we could be back to square one. That's where the confidence could deplete.

I disagree! We cannot put all our hope on the next result.

Chin up! It sounds like the team is building self-belief and confidence to levels that are robust enough to cope with losing a match.

I don't think the confidence levels would be back to square one if we lose the next game. (At least that's the sense that I've got from posts tonight from those who watched the match tonight.)

We'll be fine. (I hope.)! (I hope that you don't end up proving me wrong!)

[RoyMac5]

1 minute ago, Nuwtfly said:

I'd so love to agree with you, but I just get this nagging feeling that if Cocu had been in charge, and we had put in that exact same performance, your opinion, and the opinions of quite a few others on here, would be very, very different.

If we'd played like that under Cocu we wouldn't be at the bottom (three) of the league. 

[Nuwtfly]

Just now, RoyMac5 said:

If we'd played like that under Cocu we wouldn't be at the bottom (three) of the league. 

We had no shots on target and escaped defeat thanks to the crossbar...we played like that under Cocu a lot, Roy! ?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with a point there and was impressed by some of the things we did. Credit to Rooney for getting us doing the simple things better and for being a lot more resolute. But this isn't a world away from what got us into this mess in the first place.

I still think we ultimately need a new driver at the wheel. 

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, Nuwtfly said:

We had no shots on target and escaped defeat thanks to the crossbar...we played like that under Cocu a lot, Roy! ?

That one is just as easy to spin vice versa. They had no shots on target and escaped defeat thanks to the post. 

[RoyMac5]

1 minute ago, Nuwtfly said:

We had no shots on target and escaped defeat thanks to the crossbar...we played like that under Cocu a lot, Roy! ?

Did you watch the game? Cos if you did and thought we could play like that under Cocu then I'm amazed. They escaped defeat because we hit the post.

[Old Sawley Popside]

Tonight was defintely a huge improvement on last season's debacle at Brentford and the majority of away games this season bar Carrow  Road and the New Den - tonight we rode our luck, at times, but there's more shape to the side and it was a much grittier team performance. I'm warming to Rooney's tactics, he appears less risk averse than either Lampard or Cocu (although it's obviously early days) but we're also defensively much more solid. Saturday's match v. Stoke City will, either way, be a defining moment for this season.

[DCFC27]

23 hours ago, Norman said:

Absolute ducking baalocks. 

He got dropped for not covering the full back. He spends most of his time coming in off the line during attacks leaving the full back completely exposed when he inevitably loses the ball. He let's runners go past him, he gives away stupid free kicks and offers nothing going forward. 

Did you not see how it was done by Jozwiak? 

Well that’s shown you. The recovery run and tackle by Lawrence when they had a man free at the edge of the box proves it. Like I said he works his socks off but lacks the quality of a player like Ince Vydra etc. With Lawrence and Joz you have two good standard wingers who will work all game.  Don’t you feel a right numpty. 
 

[Ken Tram]

18 minutes ago, DCFC27 said:

Well that’s shown you. The recovery run and tackle by Lawrence when they had a man free at the edge of the box proves it. Like I said he works his socks off but lacks the quality of a player like Ince Vydra etc. With Lawrence and Joz you have two good standard wingers who will work all game.  Don’t you feel a right numpty. 
 

You might be right ... but whenever I see Lawrence chase back ... or see him pass instead of unsuccessfully driving into the box ... I always find myself feeling pleasantly surprised!

(My surprise must be based upon something. I suspect that he has some mannerisms that give ignorant people like me the wrong impression about him. Maybe I have become blind to some of his talents and qualities.)

He seems particularly Marmite-like.

I'd like to know if anyone who does not usually tend to rate him thought that he played much better tonight.

[Van der MoodHoover]

1 hour ago, Jourdan said:

Rooney is definitely giving himself a good chance of getting the job permanently. Much to my surprise if I'm honest.

However I think the next three games will be critical. On balance, we have dropped four points in two games which was hugely disappointing, but also we have gained three or four points against expectations. So his position is neutral.

So if you were the board, you'd probably be looking at the next three and seeing it as one final audition for Rooney. 6-9 points and you would struggle to conjure up an argument against him getting the job and this comes from someone who hasn't been a fan of him being at the club since day one.

This is all true. A few weeks ago I was of the view that he'd been part of if not THE problem. 

Now it appears as though my analysis may have just been hasty- and flawed.

[Ziga Zaga10]

This little run of games unbeaten coupled with clean sheets should do wonders for the confidence that was so clearly lacking. If we can maintain this upward curve throughout December until the window opens and hopefully the takeover is completed then we should be fine.

[DesertRam]

2 hours ago, Marriott Ram99 said:

Think we are only 3 players off being a decent side, 1 striker who can score alot even though Kazim has been decent, a creative player hopefully Ibe and a real solid centre back with pace to hold the defensive line together. 

MTV was a solid CB, not sure what has happened to him thou, haven't heard him mentioned for ages, anyone

know anything???

[DesertRam]

Same here VDMH, also a bit hasty shouting for experience above youth, but can admit

I may have it wrong, hope so, a noticeable improvement atm

[DCFC27]

5 hours ago, Ken Tram said:

You might be right ... but whenever I see Lawrence chase back ... or see him pass instead of unsuccessfully driving into the box ... I always find myself feeling pleasantly surprised!

(My surprise must be based upon something. I suspect that he has some mannerisms that give ignorant people like me the wrong impression about him. Maybe I have become blind to some of his talents and qualities.)

He seems particularly Marmite-like.

I'd like to know if anyone who does not usually tend to rate him thought that he played much better tonight.

For me he is terribly inconsistent and really it’s his form going forward that I find difficult he can do something brilliant but most of the time his decision making in the final third is bad. I always say credit where it’s due he does work hard coming back. Something I imagine has been ingrained into him from the Man United academy. 
For me his best season under us was under rowett and some under lampard too where he isn’t the main man, during the rowett year he was asked to track back with wierman all the time and break on the counter. Vydra is was the lazy on but that’s fine as he scored 20 goals. 
A lot of people just see him loose the ball running at players instead of passing or passing when he should have run and can’t say a good word about him. 
I normally watch from the side he’s playing on in the second have and I’m always say there thinking you can’t fault his work rate. I think he’d be better staying further forward sometimes so he can be more comfortable when he gets a chance to run at someone.